Shohei Ohtani (30, Los Angeles Dodgers), a “700-million-dollar man,” reported a decisive double and maintained a batting average of .500 in exhibition games.
Ohtani started as the second designated hitter in an exhibition game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2024 Major League Baseball at Glendale Cavalback Ranch in Arizona on the 11th (안전놀이터).
Ohtani appeared at the plate in the first inning with no outs and runners on first base in the first inning when the score was 0-0, and he struck out Arizona starter Brandon Pod with a rooking strikeout.
The Dodgers’ lineup showed off strong firepower against the Padres with one out and one out. Freddie Freeman took the lead with a two-run shot, and Chris Taylor fired a grand slam with the bases loaded continuously with Will Smith, Teoscar Hernandez hits, and James Outman’s walks.
The Dodgers didn’t stop. Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts had hits with two outs and runners on the first and third bases, and Ohtani greeted the second batter’s box and scored a run by third baseman Lux taking advantage of the foil. Ohtani met Alec Baker and drew a walk, successfully getting on base for the first time. However, Freeman’s grounder to the first base ended the inning, failing to reach the base or score.
His third at-bat was a batter’s box. He faced a situation where he had no outs and a runner on the first base again in the fourth inning when his team led 7-0, but he was satisfied with sending the runner on the first base to the second base by hitting a grounder to the first base against Jose Castillo.
He had a hit in his last at-bat. He met Kyle Nelson, a substitute pitcher, in the sixth inning with no outs and a runner on the first base, when his team was leading 9-1. He hit an RBI double to the right to seal the victory.
Ohtani ended the game pleasantly as he replaced pinch runner Ryan Ward. His batting average in exhibition games fell slightly from 5.83 percent to 0.33 percent (eight hits in 15 times at bat), but he maintained the batting average in the .500 range.
The Dodgers secured a landslide 12-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks by banking on 14 hits in the rhythm. While Betts led the offense with three hits, Freeman, Smith, Hernandez and Taylor provided multiple hits in support. Taylor had five RBIs and Freeman had three RBIs.
Gavin Stone, who started the Dodgers, became a winning pitcher with two hits and five strikeouts and no runs in four innings.
On the other hand, Arizona’s starting pod lost in the second ⅔ innings due to four hits (one homerun), one strikeout and four runs lost.
Ohtani, who was the biggest fish in the Major League FA market, hit the jackpot in December last year by signing a 10-year contract with the LA Dodgers, the strongest team in the Western Division of the National League.
Ohtani became the highest paid man in North American sports history by signing the contract. The previous record was 450 million U.S. dollars for 10 years for quarterback Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League. Since Mike Trout, the Los Angeles Angels superstar who signed the highest contract for 12 years and 426.5 million dollars in the Major League Baseball.
Ohtani made his Major League debut in 2018 wearing the Los Angeles Angels uniform and dominated the U.S. stage with a two-base hit. He surpassed the legend Babe Ruth with a career-high 38 wins and 19 losses and a 3.01 ERA in 86 games as a pitcher and a batting average of 274 with 171 homers and 437 RBIs in 716 games as a batter. Ohtani is considered the best superstar in the Major League at this point in time when he unanimously won the American League MVP last year following 2021.
Ohtani underwent elbow surgery in September last year, temporarily suspending pitchers in the 2024 season and focusing only on batters.
Source: 토토사이트